Activities

A Year at the Academy

By Caleb Petrone
12th Grade

Life at the Academy is so challenging that young men find how true it is that youth was “made for heroism”.

In 2006, two actions made us sense this most: defending the honor of Our Lord in protests against The Da Vinci Code movie, and promoting the right to life of the unborn both at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and at an actual abortion clinic. Although these “battles” were not physical like the Crusades, they were moral battles, requiring intelligence, courage, and wit.

Several other events, to name a few, made the year special. Firstly, several priests visited to pray the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the intentions of our donors.

On the Feast of the Kings, Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza, a direct descendant of St. Louis IX, visited and gave a talk. He also presided over the donning of red sashes for some of the students, symbolic of the consecration they had made to Our Lady.

Among the outings last year were visits to museums to learn about history, art and science. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the beautiful works of Fra Angelico were displayed. The Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. was of real interest to all of us. An important part of the history of the U.S. was demonstrated at Civil War Museum. The knowledge acquired at these places helped one understand better all we learned in class.

Later, on April 28, the feast of our patron St. Louis de Montfort, the International Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima visited the Academy.

During the summer the graduates traveled around the U.S. defending our Lord's name by passing out flyers on the streets of several major cities against the film The Da Vinci Code.

From June until the beginning of August, some of the older students went to Europe to visit the cathedrals, holy shrines and museums which present what a Catholic culture is and should be. In Ireland they passed out flyers in downtown Dublin spreading the Fatima message, and in Poland they participated in the first annual Polish March for Life. At the end of their stay, they joined students from around the world who gathered for a student conference in Kleinheubach, Germany, sponsored by the TFP’s of Europe.

In mid-August, the 2006 Call to Chivalry Summer Program brought many boys from across the country to compete in games and to listen to a variety of lectures.

In December, the annual Academy open house featured a skit entitled “The Forgotten King from the East,” along with the customary warm hospitality the Academy is known for. The following week we sang Christmas carols for the elderly at the local hospital.

To end the year, a group of young men attended the Call to Chivalry winter program with meetings on the errors of Communism and Catholic heroism. Besides the games and a treasure hunt, they enjoyed meeting such dignitaries as Prince Bertrand, Count Keufstein of Austria, and Count Bruno Quintavalle of Italy. At the end, several expressed their appreciation for everything, especially for the opportunity to meet real Catholic nobles.